A diya may be one of Diwali’s most familiar objects, but there is nothing standard about the way it is being made today. Blue pottery from Rajasthan, hand-painted terracotta from Maharashtra, wax-filled clay lights, contemporary resin work and inclusive craft enterprises are turning the traditional diya into something that can sit just as naturally in a modern home as it does in a festive puja.
That is the idea behind Women Listed Recommends: The Diya Edit — a selection of brands and artisan-led initiatives where the craft, design or livelihood story gives the familiar festive light a distinct identity. Here are seven names of women-led businesses and products made by women artisans across India worth discovering for Diwali 2026.
1. Ekatra Handmade — Kota, Rajasthan
Founded by mother-daughter duo Minakshi Jhawar and Aishwarya Jhawar, Ekatra Handmade has grown from a handcrafted lifestyle label into a wider sustainable gifting studio. Its festive range includes the Artisanal Blue Pottery Diya Set, made by artisans in Rajasthan and finished in the instantly recognizable cobalt-and-white language of blue pottery.
What makes Ekatra especially relevant for gifting is the ecosystem around the product: hampers, textiles, stationery and corporate customization. Its corporate-gifting platform also foregrounds women artisans across its workshops in Rajasthan. For someone looking beyond painted clay without losing a strong Indian craft vocabulary, the blue-pottery diya set is an elegant place to start.
2. Happy Earth Studio — Jalna, Maharashtra
At Happy Earth Studio, terracotta is treated less like a raw material and more like a canvas. Founded by Shruti Ladniya, the Jalna studio works with local clay and women artisans to create hand-thrown and hand-painted objects, including festive tealight holders with regional characters and playful motifs.
Its Raja-Rani and regional-couple tea-light holders are especially distinctive because the diya becomes part of a larger piece of storytelling rather than just festive decoration. The studio also offers personalization and bulk gifting, giving the craft relevance for weddings, corporate orders and family gifting. The result is a very different visual language from conventional Diwali decor.
3. Crafty Shea — Mumbai
Shea Panchal’s Crafty Shea works at the more decorative end of the diya spectrum. The Mumbai-based handmade label is known for resin art, designer diyas, tea-light holders and festive decor that lean toward shimmer, texture and statement presentation rather than a rustic craft aesthetic.
Crafty Shea is particularly suited to buyers who want their diyas to function as table decor even before they are lit — pieces designed to sit comfortably in a dressed-up festive setting rather than disappear after the puja is over. Panchal’s work is also rooted in a broader interest in bringing Indian craft references into contemporary decorative formats.
4. Gharana — Heritage Craft Built for Festive Gifting
Gharana began with Sharma Murti Bhandar in Himachal Pradesh in 1945 and today operates across devotion, craft, home and gifting. Gharana identifies Ramesh Sharma as founder and chief artisan, while Priya Sharma leads operations and marketing as COO, helping take the family craft business into national ecommerce.
For Diwali, its proposition is particularly practical: hand-painted clay diyas from its workshop can be bought independently or built into branded corporate hampers alongside puja and festive products. The business also supports split delivery and GST invoicing for bulk orders. Gharana therefore sits at the intersection of traditional festive craft and large-format gifting — useful when the brief has to work across a team or client list rather than a single home.
5. Gulmeher Foundation — East Delhi
The story behind Gulmeher Foundation begins far beyond the festive shelf. The Delhi-based social enterprise works to create dignified livelihoods for women from vulnerable communities, including women waste-pickers, through craft-based work that uses materials such as discarded flowers, recycled paper and fabric.
Its current Diwali collection includes soy-wax diyas, festive gift boxes, natural rangoli colors and handcrafted decor. That makes the product story inseparable from the people making it: a festive purchase that also represents a shift from informal waste work toward skilled artisan livelihoods. For buyers who want the social-impact story to be part of the gift without overwhelming the design, Gulmeher is one of the most distinctive names in this edit.
6. Diya Innovations — Bengaluru, Karnataka
The name feels made for this list, but Diya Innovations is best understood as an inclusive social enterprise. Founded by Suman John, it creates corporate and festive gifts while providing meaningful work opportunities to adults with intellectual disabilities through an inclusive production model.
Its festive catalogue includes hand-painted traditional diyas, glass diya holders, wooden and screen-printed tea-light holders and curated Diwali boxes. The strongest reason to consider Diya Innovations is not one specific design but the way handcrafted gifting becomes a route to sustained employment for artisans who face high barriers in conventional workplaces. It is purposeful gifting with a clear production story behind it.
7. Decoreer — Madhya Pradesh
Rachana G. Bhavsar’s Decoreer approaches festive lighting through color, form and Indian decorative craft. The Madhya Pradesh brand sells handmade terracotta oil lamps and tea-light holders in forms ranging from turtles and traditional round shapes to more sculptural decorative pieces, alongside wall decor, urlis and other handcrafted products.
Bhavsar’s wider practice is rooted in handicraft, and Decoreer also highlights her work in training women through craft initiatives. For Diwali buyers, the appeal is straightforward: these are recognizably traditional terracotta diyas, but with enough variation in shape, color and hand-painted detailing to work as decorative objects rather than purely functional lamps.
Seven Ways to Reinterpret One Familiar Festive Object
What makes this edit interesting is how differently the seven names arrive at the diya: Ekatra through blue pottery, Happy Earth through illustrated terracotta, Crafty Shea through decorative design, Gharana through heritage craft, Gulmeher through women’s livelihoods, Diya Innovations through inclusive employment, and Decoreer through painted Indian handicraft. The diya remains familiar. The craft, business model and people behind it are what make each version worth discovering.
For more festive discovery, explore Women Listed’s guide to women-led gifting brands and its practical 2026 guide to Diwali hampers from women-owned brands. If you run a women-led brand, Women Listed can help make your business easier for buyers and collaborators to discover.
